Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is outrageous. This is happening right here in Australia under the watch of this government. These shocking revelations of gross exploitation keep coming, but the government remains largely deaf to the problem. This egregious behaviour is not just a problem for workers; it is also a problem for the vast number of employers who do the right thing, because it gives unethical organisations and employers a commercial edge.

This slippery slope must end. We never want to see the day when worker exploitation is a prerequisite in Australia for business survival. This bill before us today goes some way to addressing the problems. It is not the bill that Labor would have introduced. In fact, it falls well short of the standard we believe is required to protect vulnerable workers. We will support it today, but action is desperately needed to address this crisis.

The bill amends the Fair Work Act to increase penalties for deliberate contraventions of workplace laws which are part of a systemic pattern of conduct. It expressly prohibits unreasonably requiring workers to make unreasonable payments. It also increases penalties for employer record-keeping failures and makes franchisors and holding companies responsible for underpayments by their franchisees or subsidiaries where they knew or ought reasonably to have known of the contraventions and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent them. It gives SES employees and the Fair Work Ombudsman the power to compel people to answer questions in investigations into breaches of the act.

This bill is, as I said, a reasonable start, but it goes nowhere near the commitments Labor made just 12 months ago to address a wide range of issues facing workers. Firstly, it does nothing to combat the sham contracting, nor will it address problems with labour hire company licensing. Similarly, the legislation will not help those people who have been caught up in phoenix businesses. These are the companies that build up extensive liabilities and then fold, only to be reborn as a new entity that cannot be held responsible for the former company's debts. Nor does the bill criminalise employer conduct that involves the use of coercion or threats during the commission of serious contraventions of the Fair Work Act for temporary overseas workers, and it will not make it easier for workers to recover unpaid wages from employers and directors of the responsible companies.

I would now like to turn to some of the most serious deficiencies in the bill. Firstly, it makes franchises and holding companies responsible for underpayments by their franchisees and subsidiaries where they knew or ought reasonably to have known of the contraventions and did not take reasonable steps to prevent them. I can see that it is really an opportune time for members opposite to lend support to Labor's own bill on the table, which has been before us in this parliament before. That is to strengthen workplace rights and entitlements. It is a great opportunity for the government to bring on Bill Shorten's private member's bill, which, as I said, would protect workers' pay from current and future decisions that would seek to perhaps reduce minimum wage in this country.

There is much more work to be done in this space in trying to truly eradicate worker exploitation in this country. I think a first step might be a generous sign of bipartisanship from members opposite, standing up for those workers who are about to get the chop on their Sunday penalty rates and are facing a loss of $77 per week out of their pay packets. That is a straight pay cut. People are going to have to work longer for less money, and regional communities, we know, are set to lose millions in the interim. If these cuts to Sunday penalty rates proceed, they will absolutely belong to the Prime Minister and to each and every Liberal and National Party member who stood by and did nothing.

See this speech in context